By Amy Samin

At the press conference that took place before Thursday night’s game against Olympiacos, Pini Gershon related how he was touched when he was approached by several players, among them foreigners, who wanted to cancel Friday’s practice in order to travel to the border with Gaza and visit the soldiers who are taking part in Operation Cast Lead.

The coach agreed to their request, and on Friday Casspi, Eliyahu and Fizer traveled to the border.
The visit lasted for several hours, and drew an ecstatic response from the IDF soldiers.

“We went to Golani and Givati bases right on the border and cheered up the soldiers,” explained Omri Casspi.
“Everyone knew exactly what had happened in the game against Olympiacos, and we were really happy to cheer them up.
The platoon’s commanding officer related that one of the soldiers who was hurt on Thursday night said, “Forget my injury – how did Maccabi do in the game?”

The most striking thing about the visit was the presence of Marcus Fizer.
If a visit by Israeli players seems understandable, it was surprising that the center, who has only played in Israel for a year and a half, wanted to take part in the trip.

“The participation of Marcus shows how much he cares about the country,” said Casspi of his teammate.
“It was very nice gesture on his part, and kind of unexpected, for an American to visit our soldiers in a war zone.”